Good morning. It's Friday, Aug. 30, and we're covering a Japanese typhoon prompting millions to evacuate, the beginning of college football season, and much more. First time reading? Join over 3.8 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here. |
Editor's note: The 1440 staff will be taking a much-deserved break over Labor Day weekend. We'll see you Tuesday—have a great holiday! |
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Tropical Storm Shanshan made landfall on Japan’s southwestern island of Kyushu as a typhoon yesterday with maximum sustained winds hitting roughly 156 mph at landfall, putting millions of people under evacuation orders. Shanshan, which at landfall was the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane, is believed to be the strongest to ever hit the region and has resulted in at least five deaths.
The storm brought record rainfall—some areas recording over 2 feet in 24 hours—power outages, transportation disruptions, and the threat of landslides and floods. The storm is likely to track northeast this morning before moving east over Honshu later today.
The Northwest Pacific experiences an average of 25 named storms annually, with one landing in Japan last year. Typhoons and hurricanes are both rotating storm systems that differ in name by location: typhoons occur in the Northwest Pacific, while hurricanes form in the North Atlantic and Northeast Pacific. |
The 2024 college football season gets into full swing this weekend, kicking off a year that will see more changes than almost any in the sport's 155-year history.
Most notably, the postseason will shift to a 12-team playoff, with the four highest-ranked conference winners earning byes and four teams hosting on-campus playoff games for the first time (see details). The format replaces the four-team playoff used since 2014.
Separately, conference realignment means traditional West Coast powers UCLA, USC, Washington, and Oregon will play in the Big Ten, while Texas and Oklahoma will join the SEC.
Fresh faces will be featured at a few top-tier programs. Nick Saban retired from Alabama after 17 years and six titles with the Tide. Up north, Jim Harbaugh left defending champion Michigan after winning the team's first title since 1997.
The slate features a number of marquee matchups, beginning with No. 1 Georgia facing No. 14 Clemson (12 pm ET, ABC). See the full schedule here. |
Former Hong Kong editors of a prodemocracy news outlet were found guilty of sedition yesterday. The conviction is the first application of the British colonial-era law since the territory's 1997 handover to mainland China.
Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam were editors-in-chief of Stand News, an online media outlet whose popularity skyrocketed amid the 2019 prodemocracy protests. Prosecutors said 17 articles during and after this protest period smeared law enforcement; a judge found 11 carried seditious content in particular. Stand News shut down following a December 2021 police raid on its offices, part of a wave of news media closures in Hong Kong amid a crackdown on dissent.
The editors face a prison sentence of up to two years and a fine of about $640 next month. The law under which the editors were charged is separate from Hong Kong's 2020 national security law; an updated version of that law extends the maximum sentence for sedition to seven years. |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
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> The 2024 Paris Paralympics competitions kick off, including cycling, swimming, table tennis, and Taekwondo (More) | See latest medal tracker (More) |
> The Cure to release two new songs on "eco-vinyl" made from sustainable material, the first new music from the iconic English rock band in 16 years (More) |
> Steph Curry signs one-year, $62.6M extension with the Golden State Warriors, on track to make him the third NBA player to pass $500M in career earnings (More) | 2024-25 UEFA Champions League groupings for "league phase" set; see full schedule for the new 36-team format (More) |
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> Brain study finds the prefrontal cortex—the region responsible for decision-making and other executive functions—is also the first to show age-related deterioration (More) | Why is the prefrontal cortex special? (More) |
> Shoebox-sized telescope goes online after being launched into orbit via a SpaceX satellite; device was made for under $1M and was designed and developed in under one year (More) |
> Decadelong study shows vultures form fewer social bonds as they age; findings, expected to aid conservation efforts, support theory animals become more ingrained in habits and social circles over time (More) |
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> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 -0.0%, Dow +0.6%, Nasdaq -0.2%); Dow notches record close (More) | US economy grew 3% year-over-year from April through June, faster than preliminary assessment of 2.8% (More) |
> Dollar General shares close down 32%—its largest single-day drop on record—after retailer reports lower-than-expected Q2 results, slashes full-year guidance (More) | Affirm shares close up 32% in biggest rally in three years, a day after "buy now, pay later" fintech company beats Wall Street expectations (More) |
> US pending home sales index falls 5.5% year-over-year in July to lowest level since records began in 2001 (More) | US average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage falls to lowest level since May 2023 at 6.35% (More) |
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> Vice President Kamala Harris, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) sit down for first joint interview on CNN; see takeaways (More) | Staffer of former President Donald Trump, Arlington National Cemetery employee reportedly clash in altercation after employee tries to stop Trump campaign from filming on the grounds (More) |
> Israel says its forces killed local commander of Iran-backed Islamic Jihad group, four other militants in second day of West Bank raids (More) | Israel, Hamas agree to zoned three-day pauses in fighting in Gaza to allow for polio vaccines (More) |
> Justice Department watchdog finds FBI mishandled child sexual abuse cases, including failing to comply with mandatory reporting requirements in roughly half of cases examined (More) | View findings (More, click "Read Report" for PDF) |
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> Measuring the Black Death
Asimov Press | Saloni Dattani. Europe's 14th-century pandemic brought on by the Yersinia pestis bacteria is said to have wiped out between 30% to 60% of the continent's population—but why is that estimated range so large? (Read)
> Meet G1, the Mass-Produced Humanoid Robot
CNET | Staff. Is the future finally here? Chinese budget robotics manufacturer Unitree has announced its 80-pound, 4-foot-tall, $16K household chore robot as it gears up for mass production. (Watch) |
> The Noble Cremation Scandal
Wavland | Shaun Raviv. Revisit the chilling story of the Tri-State Crematory in Noble, Georgia, in this eight-part series, where in 2002 more than 350 corpses slated to be cremated were discovered decomposing around the campus. (Listen)
> California Stagnation
Construction Physics | Brian Potter. First it was gold and farming, then it was the movies and oil—for a century, the population of the Golden State grew on the back of economic opportunity. But since 1970, that trend has broadly reversed. (Read) |
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In partnership with Infinity Fuel |
$50M in Contracts Is Just the Beginning |
Anyone who’s been to space has likely crossed paths with Infinity Fuel. They have had $50M in contracts with the US Navy, NASA, Blue Origin, and others—they also just added award-winning actor and clean energy advocate William Shatner** as an Advisor. And they have big goals: To bring NASA technology down to earth to enable a carbon-free future.
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*Disclosure: This is a paid advertisement for Infinity Fuel Cell and Hydrogen, Inc. Reg CF offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.infinityfuel.com/.
** Section 17(b) disclosure. Mr. Shatner is compensated as an Infinity advisor at $10K/month. He also has received options to purchase up to 100K shares vesting over 9 months at an $8.00/share strike price |
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